Singapore legends: An A-Z of the nation's iconic talents

The Sunday Times' A-Z of Singapore legends in the arts, sports and entertainment is by no means definitive. Think of it as a starting point for debate and discovery, and write to stlife@sph.com.sg on who you think should make the list

(From left) Swimmer Ang Peng Siong, singer and songwriter Dick Lee, footballer Fadi Ahmad and restaurateur Violet Oon are some of the names in the A-Z list of Singapore legends. PHOTOS: ST FILE, DICK LEE
Ang Peng Siong
Ang Peng Siong. PHOTO: ST FILE

Ang Peng Siong, Swimmer

Before Joseph Schooling, there was Ang. Nicknamed Asia's "Flying Fish", the freestyle specialist was the world's top-ranked men's 50m freestyle swimmer in 1982, when he clocked 22.69 seconds at the United States National Championships.

He then won the 100m freestyle event at the Asian Games that same year in New Delhi, India, and won the consolation final at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

His pet event, the 50m race, was not offered at the 1984 Games, but made its Olympic debut four years later in Seoul, where Ang - who had a six-month deferment from full-time national service - finished ninth in the heats and missed out on the finals by one place.

The three-time Sportsman of the Year also has eight SEA Games golds from 1983 to 1993. He retired from competitive swimming in 1993.

The 56-year-old currently runs the APS Swim School, which he founded in 1996.

Lim Say Heng


Bonny Hicks, Model and writer

The Eurasian beauty first came to attention as a model - appearing on covers, advertisements, runways and a music video for home-grown band The Oddfellows' Your Smiling Face - after she was discovered fresh out of junior college.

But it was Hicks the writer who arguably made a more lasting impact - on Singapore's literary scene.

PHOTO: HER WORLD

At age 22, she published Singapore's first celebrity tell-all book, Excuse Me, Are You A Model?.

It was controversial as she detailed both her modelling career and romances with men and one woman, photographer Pat Chan.

It was also an instant hit, with its first print run of 12,000 selling out in three days.

She also contributed a short-lived fortnightly personal column to The Straits Times in 1990 and 1991.

She died tragically at the age of 29, a victim of SilkAir Flight 185, which crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia on Dec 19, 1997.

Jan Lee


PHOTO: THE ARTS HOUSE

Catherine Lim, Writer

Lim, 76, is considered the grande dame of local literature. She was the first Singaporean author to have two short story collections - Little Ironies: Stories Of Singapore (1978) and Or Else, The Lightning God And Other Stories (1980) - studied as O-level texts internationally.

The Malaya-born author, who formerly worked for Singapore's Ministry of Education, is known for her popular historical novels, many about tragic Chinese women and forbidden love.

She self-published her novel, The Bondmaid (1995), about a girl sold into child slavery in 1950s Singapore who falls in love with her master, after local publishers deemed her manuscript too "adult".

It topped local bestseller lists and was picked up by international publishing houses.

Lim has also made waves for her political commentary. In 1994, she had an essay published in The Straits Times about the divide between the People's Action Party and Singaporeans, for which she was rebuked by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in Parliament.

Olivia Ho


PHOTO: COURTESY OF DICK LEE

Dick Lee, Singer and songwriter

From pop music and national songs to theatre and television, Lee, 62, has had quite an impact on the Singapore music scene in the last five decades.

His composition Home, sung by Kit Chan and the theme song for the 1998 National Day Parade, is a National Day staple, while his 1989 album, The Mad Chinaman, is a local pop classic.

He is known for musicals such as Beauty World (1988) and Fried Rice Paradise (1991), and has appeared on television shows such as Singapore Idol, on which he was a judge for all three seasons (2004, 2006 and 2009).

He has also made an impact regionally through his work on Hong Kong musical Snow.Wolf.Lake (1997) and with songs for stars such as Sandy Lam.

Awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2005, he is one of the few famous people here who have had a movie - Wonder Boy (2017), which he co-wrote and co-directed - made about their lives.

Eddino Abdul Hadi


PHOTO: ST FILE

Edwin Thumboo, Poet

Were Singapore to have a poet laureate, it would be Emeritus Professor Thumboo, 85.

The first-ever Cultural Medallion recipient for literature, he has been lauded for shaping Singapore's English literary canon.

His poetry, including the collections Gods Can Die (1977), Ulysses By The Merlion (1979) and A Third Map (1993), often deals with history and national identity.

His most iconic poem is Ulysses By The Merlion, in which Ulysses, a hero of Greek mythology, contemplates the Merlion. It has inspired several poetic responses, including ones by Lee Tzu Pheng and Alfian Sa'at.

He has also edited numerous anthologies, such as The Flowering Tree (1970), one of Singapore's earliest English-language poetry and fiction anthologies, and co-founded the Ministry of Education's Creative Arts Programme in 1991 to mentor young writers.

He was the dean of the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991 and remains an Emeritus Professor there today.

Olivia Ho


PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Fandi Ahmad, Footballer

It has been two decades since Fandi retired from the national team, but at the age of 56, he remains Singapore's most popular footballer.

From brave headers to acrobatic volleys to tap-ins, the striker scored lots of goals throughout his career, including the decider in a 2-1 Malaysia Cup Final win over Selangor in 1980, when he was 18. His friendly personality also endears him to fans.

He went on to win three Malaysia Cup titles with Kuala Lumpur (1987 and 1988) and Pahang (1992) before returning to lead an exciting Singapore side, dubbed the Dream Team, to a Malaysia League and Cup double in 1994.

Married to South African model Wendy Jacobs, Fandi has four sons and a daughter. His eldest sons, Irfan and Ikhsan, are now fixtures in the national team.

Wang Meng Meng


PHOTO: ART OUTREACH

Georgette Chen, Painter

The only woman in the group of pioneer artists known as the Nanyang School, Chen was the epitome of the sophisticated cosmopolite in both her art and her life.

From her 1946 self-portrait (above) at the National Gallery Singapore, you can see the confidence radiating from her direct gaze, elegantly arched brows and sleekly rolled hair lending her an air of understated chic.

Her works are renowned for their blending of Western techniques with Asian themes and motifs, a cultural melding characteristic of the Nanyang artists.

Born in 1906 to an antiques and arts dealer father in Zhejiang, China, she grew up shuttling among Paris, New York and Shanghai. She studied art at the Academie Colarossi and Academie Biloul in Paris as well as the Art Students League in New York.

In 1930, she married China's foreign minister Eugene Chen Youren and her work was accepted for exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in Paris.

Her husband died in 1944. Her marriage to his ex-aide Ho Yung Chi ended in divorce in 1953.

She settled here, where she taught part-time at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts from 1954 to 1980. The Cultural Medallion recipient died at Mount Alvernia Hospital in 1993 after a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis.

Ong Sor Fern

PHOTO: ST FILE

Hanis Hussey, Model

One of Singapore's biggest fashion exports, Hussey is arguably the most iconic local model of all time.

The first Singaporean model to appear on the runway of Paris Fashion Week, she had the coveted job of closing the Fall/Winter show of French label Yves Saint Laurent in 1983.

Discovered at the age of 16, she regularly secured international gigs, walking the runways for top luxury fashion names such as Givenchy, Balmain and Christian Dior.

She was on the cover of Time Magazine Asia in 1997 for a story on anti-ageing scientific innovations.

She retired from modelling in 1997 to spend more time with her three children - two daughters and a son.

Now 54, she is based in Dallas, Texas, and runs a personal image and grooming consultancy business, Style Power by Hanis Hussey.

Jan Lee


PHOTO: ST FILE

Iskandar Jalil, Ceramicist

Iskandar, 79, was a late bloomer when it came to pottery.

Born the youngest of five children, he grew up in Kampong Chantek in Bukit Timah. He was a mathematics and science teacher, with an interest in art, before his second Colombo Plan scholarship took him to Japan in 1972, where he fell in love with pottery.

Apprenticed to Japanese folk art ceramicist Shoji Hamada, he developed an appreciation for Japanese philosophy and culture, and became enamoured of the Mingei craft movement of the early 1900s, which celebrated handmade craftsmanship and the beauty of utilitarian objects.

Iskandar's works are often earthily simple but richly tactile, with textured surfaces and incorporating twigs as accents.

His fondness for blue oxide is now his signature, with the hue known as Iskandar Blue.

He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1988 and when he returned to Japan in 2000, his old teacher conferred on him the title of "master potter".

He is also the only Singapore artist to have been conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by the Emperor of Japan, in recognition of his contributions to cultural exchange between Japan and Singapore.

Ong Sor Fern


PHOTO: ST FILE

Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali, Writer

Prolific author J.M. Sali, 80, has churned out more than 400 short stories, 80 plays and 200 articles in his career as a writer and journalist.

Born in Madra, India, in 1939 to a betel-leaf seller and his wife, Sali arrived in Singapore in 1964 to join the newspaper Tamil Murasu.

Then aged 25, he was already a popular writer who contributed to magazines in India.

His writing in Tamil runs the gamut from serious to pop cultural.

His book Alaikal Pesukinrana (The Sound Of The Waves), which was used at SIM University as a text for students studying Tamil, tackled themes of love and sacrifice in its story about a married man in India who moves to Singapore and is forced by circumstances to marry another woman.

He has also written biographies of popular figures such as actor Bruce Lee and boxer Muhammad Ali.

For his contributions to Tamil writing, he was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2012 and has also earned other accolades, such as the SEA Write Award, which honours South-east Asian writers.

Ong Sor Fern


PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Kuo Pao Kun, Dramatist

A doyen of Singapore drama, Kuo's works transcended languages.

The Cultural Medallion recipient wrote 25 plays, including landmark works such as Mama Looking For Her Cat, which was the first local play to make use of a babel of seven languages and dialects, as well as the monologue The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole and the lyrical Descendants Of The Eunuch Admiral.

Kuo, who was born in China and wrote in English and Chinese, was detained for 41/2 years for communist sympathies in the late 1970s and stripped of his Singapore citizenship, which was reinstated only in 1992. Nevertheless, he carried on with theatre full-time.

His Practice Performing Arts School, which he founded with his dancer-choreographer wife Goh Lay Kuan, trained prominent theatre practitioners such as Ivan Heng, Alvin Tan and Ong Keng Sen.

He also founded Practice Theatre Ensemble, Singapore's first bilingual theatre company, now called The Theatre Practice, and experimental arts space The Substation.

He died in 2002 at the age of 63, from kidney and liver cancer.

Olivia Ho


PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Liu Thai Ker, Architect

Mr Liu, 81, is often credited as the "architect of modern Singapore" in recognition of his contributions to shaping Singapore's urban landscape.

The former master planner oversaw the completion of more than half a million public housing units and led a major revision of the Concept Plan in the early 1990s, which is used to map out the long-term plans for Singapore's land use.

He helmed the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for two decades and was chief planner and chief executive of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) before joining RSP Architects Planners & Engineers in 1992, where he spent 25 years as senior director.

In 2015, he famously argued that Singapore could support a population of 10 million people with proper urban planning, causing much controversy.

Not one to rest on his laurels, he left the firm in 2017 at age 79 to start his own practice, called Morrow, where he continues to play an active role.

Mr Liu is also the founding chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities, a local think-tank that focuses on creating liveable and sustainable cities.

Michelle Ng


PHOTO: ST FILE

Maria Menado, Actress

Maria, 87, is best known as the screen legend who played the titular character, a woman turned bloodsucking ghoul, in the film Pontianak. The 1957 box-office hit by Cathay-Keris Studio made history as the first Malay horror film.

More than just an actress, she was also the first female Malay producer. She formed her own company, Maria Menado Production, which released films such as Siti Zubaidah (1961) and Darahku (My Blood, 1963).

Born in Indonesia, she first came to Singapore in the early 1950s as a model.

She took on her first acting role opposite entertainment icon P. Ramlee in 1951 drama Penghidupan (Life), which was produced by Shaw Brothers' Malay Film Productions at its Jalan Ampas studio here.

She made a cameo in 2015 home-grown romantic comedy Our Sister Mambo, a film that marked Cathay's 80th anniversary. She now lives in Malaysia.

Eddino Abdul Hadi


PHOTO: NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL

Nona Asiah, Singer

A singing sensation by age 19, Nona was one of the most popular singers during the golden era of the silver screen, and sang on films such as 1953's Hujan Panas (Hot Rain) and 1957's Bujang Lapok (Raggedy Bachelors).

The singer, 89, was a protege of Zubir Said, composer of Singapore's national anthem. They worked together on a number of projects and he used her singing voice for popular actresses such as Rose Yatimah and Latifah Omar.

In the 1970s, she produced many children's songs that are still popular today, including the Selamat Hari Raya song.

In addition, she groomed several young talents who appeared on the iconic children's television series Mat Yoyo, which aired in the 1980s on the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.

For her contributions to the Malay entertainment industry, she was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 2016.

Benson Ang


PHOTO: ST FILE

Ong Kim Seng, Watercolourist

Before becoming an artist, Ong, 74, held an assortment of jobs, ranging from bill collector and policeman to welder and factory supervisor.

An only child, he grew up in a kampung in Tiong Bahru. After his father died, his mother worked as a washerwoman and grass-cutter to support the family.

A self-taught artist, Ong worked in charcoal and oil before focusing on watercolour in the 1960s.

He is a realist painter, depicting architecture, landscapes and street scenes with impressionistic washes of colour. He is famed for his paintings of the Singapore River and old shophouse scenes.

The avid trekker has hiked the Himalayas more than seven times. His travels inspired paintings such as Gysante Market (a scene from a Central Tibet flea market) and Thimi, Nepal, which won various prizes.

He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1990. Last year, he was named one of the top 25 watercolour artists in the world by an international jury of artists and critics during the Watercolour International, a biennial festival.

He was the first artist living in Asia to be accepted into the renowned American Watercolour Society.

Ong Sor Fern


Tan Howe Liang, Weightlifter

On Sept 8, 1960, sporting history was made as Tan became the first Singaporean to win an Olympic medal as he finished second in the weightlifting lightweight (60 to 67.5kg) category.

Shrugging off the pain in his legs, Tan, now 85, refused to give up even though he was advised by doctors to withdraw from the competition to get treatment.

He proceeded to lift a total of 380kg to pip Iraq's Abdul Wahid Aziz to the silver medal and finished behind Russia's Viktor Bushuev.

In the process, he also showed his grit and determination to the world by bouncing back from a previous disappointment. He had competed at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but finished ninth as he blacked out during an attempt.

He also won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games (1958, 1962), Asian Games (1958) and South-east Asia Peninsular Games, now known as the SEA Games (1959).

Wang Meng Meng

PHOTO: ST FILE
PHOTO: ST FILE
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PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

UK Shyam, Sprinter

The former national sprinter holds the national men's 100m record of 10.37 seconds, which he clocked twice in 2001. He broke C. Kunalan's previous record of 10.38 seconds at the World University Games that year in Beijing and repeated the feat again a month later at the SEA Games, where he won the silver medal in the century sprint.

Even though the story of an athlete who suffers in the pursuit of greatness might be common, Shyam's journey is remarkable.

Now 42, he grew up in a single-parent family, with his mother barely making ends meet as a tutor. To fuel his athletic dreams, he worked as a restaurant waiter and even ate leftovers and napped in toilets in between training.

He quit the sport for four months in 2000, citing a lack of support from the then-Singapore Athletic Association, before swim great Ang Peng Siong offered him a way back with a job offer at his swim school.

Lim Say Heng


PHOTO: ST FILE

Violet Oon, Restaurateur

Often described as Singapore's food doyenne, Violet Oon, 69, became a well-known name in the early 1980s as the food critic of the now-defunct The Singapore Monitor newspaper.

She later started her own tabloid, The Food Paper, and was an unofficial food ambassador at promotions organised by the then Singapore Tourist Promotion Board.

She also wrote cookbooks and, after some early failures, became a successful restaurateur.

Together with her son Tay Yiming and daughter Tay Su-lyn, she now owns four restaurants under her brand - including Violet Oon Singapore in Ion Orchard and National Kitchen in National Gallery Singapore - serving Singapore cuisines including Peranakan, Malay, Indian and Eurasian dishes.

There are plans to expand the business abroad to places such as London.

Wong Ah Yoke


PHOTO: ST FILE

William Lim, Architect

Pioneer architect William Lim, 87, is the man behind many iconic buildings, including Golden Mile Complex and People's Park Complex.

Throughout his career, he championed urban development and heritage issues, calling for the urban conservation of entire areas instead of just single buildings.

He was the co-founder and principal architect of three firms from 1960 to 2002, the last of which is William Lim Associates.

He retired from his architectural practice at the age of 70.

He has since published a number of books, including Incomplete Urbanism: A Critical Urban Strategy For Emerging Economies in 2012, which spawned an exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore.

Mr Lim, who is married with two children, is an ardent supporter and patron of the arts and culture scene in Singapore.

Michelle Ng


PHOTO: COMPASS

X'Ho, Radio personality and singer

X'Ho, or Chris Ho as he is also known, is a pop-culture personality who has been one of the most prominent faces and voices of the local music scene.

From fronting 1980s new wave band Zircon Lounge to writing about music as a columnist for various local and international publications, he has been instrumental in capturing the cultural zeitgeist.

He is also a familiar voice on the airwaves, having presented radio shows since the 1990s at stations including Radio Singapore International, 987FM and Lush 99.5FM.

He currently helms the evening drive time slot at Gold 90.5 FM.

Last year, he was awarded the prestigious Patron of Music award (above) by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore.

Anjali Raguraman


PHOTO: ST FILE

Yeng Pway Ngon, Writer

The prolific Chinese-language writer and critic has won the Singapore Literature Prize three times and received the Cultural Medallion.

Yeng, 72, has published more than 25 volumes of poetry, fiction and essays, including Unrest (2002), Trivialities About Me And Myself (2006) and Art Studio (2011).

The last novel is an epic that charts the lives of artists from the 1960s to the present. It was adapted for the stage for the 2017 Singapore International Festival of Arts.

An ex-newspaper columnist, he founded one of Singapore's most prominent Chinese bookstores, Grassroots Book Room. Originally at North Bridge Centre, it moved to Bukit Pasoh Road in 2014 after he sold it to three former customers.

In 1977, he was detained for four months under the Internal Security Act after he was accused of being a leftist. Despite having been diagnosed with two kinds of cancer, he continues to work on his next novel.

Olivia Ho


PHOTO: ESPLANADE - THEATRES BY THE BAY

Zul Sutan, Singer and musician

A leading figure in the club music scene for more than four decades, singer and musician Zul entertained many with his soulful singing, crowd rapport and deft guitar skills.

With his rock band Tania, he built a loyal fan base who would follow him as he played at various nightspots ranging from Anywhere Music Pub to Harry's, as well as venues such as the Esplanade.

He released an acclaimed solo album, Zul, in 1992 and won the artistic excellence accolade at the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore awards last year.

A trouper of a musician, he was still performing live two months before he died of health complications at the age of 61 in December.

Eddino Abdul Hadi

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on February 17, 2019, with the headline Singapore legends: An A-Z of the nation's iconic talents. Subscribe